CrimLaw

If a judge dismisses your case pretrial you can apeal and win. However, that doesn't mean your case will actually be decided by a jury:

The case was so lacking in evidence it "offends my sense of justice," declared U.S. District Judge David Sam.

Sam sent Justice Department lawyers packing Friday after throwing out what he saw as a fanciful racketeering case. It was the second time he had rejected the case, and this time it was for good as he acquitted the defendants.

Maybe all the rumors about judges being upset with the draconian federal system and turning on the prosecutors are true. After all, this guy doesn't exactly sound like he would be your prototypical left-leaning, Defendant friendly kind of judge:

Sam, 70, has spent 18 years on the federal bench. He interprets law literally, frowns on fanciful legal theories and emphasizes a limited role for government, especially the federal government, in constitutional affairs.

And the case may even raise Republican ire:

The acquital in the scandal could have repercussions for the prosecution. Rep. Chris Cannon, R-Utah, who chairs the House Judiciary Committee's Subcommittee on Commercial and Administrative Law, said the panel might hold hearings next year to examine the government's handling of the case.

"After so obvious an abuse of power it is now the responsibility of Congress to see what has gone wrong," Cannon said. "This should include making the victims of fouled prosecutorial discretion whole, at least for the cost of their defense."